Synopsis

In 1994, Dylan Counts moved from sub-urban New York to the
mountains of Colorado; leaving behind everything he knew. To cope, he began to wander the surrounding hills. During his travels, he started to look inward and found himself wandering the pathways of his mind while traversing mountain passes. 

Eventually, Dylan developed a set of meditations, exercises,
self-hypnotic visualizations and analytical techniques that allowed him to not only understand himself, but to take control of his own mental processes in ways that removed emotional
obstacles, detrimental fears, mental roadblocks, and psychological misunderstandings. He gained the confidence and understanding to face any situation with peace and equanimity and has used those skills along with studies in psychology to excel in both his career and life.

5 Minute Mindfulness: Harnessing Your Mind In 5 Minutes A Day is a road map to a peaceful life in a hectic world. Guided meditations, simple exercises, and comprehensive explanations allow you to find your own way to a Mindful life while avoiding common pitfalls and barriers that stop most travelers before they even get started.

Now you can live a life unhindered by fear, anger, rejection, judgement, stress, confusion, and pain. Take the first step on your journey to peace and success. 

Outline

1. Introduction
2. My Story
   1. In 1994, I moved from suburban New York to the mountains of Colorado; leaving behind everything I knew for a lonely landscape without friends or distractions. I began to wander the surrounding hills in loneliness and depression. During my travels, I began to look inward and track my own thought patterns at the same time I was just learning basic meditation techniques. This was the beginning of how I started my journey to a Mindful Life.
3. What is Mindfulness?
   1. Mindfulness is the concept and practice of living in the mental and emotional state of awareness of inner thoughts and processes. It is also the ability to accept those thoughts without self-judgment or recrimination. 
4. History of Mindfulness
   1. Mindfulness (in one form or another) has been an underlying concept of many faiths, paths, and religions. The most notable of these is Buddhism; a path that focuses on teaching inner knowledge, acceptance and understanding.
   2. From quiet beginnings to main stream media, Mindfulness has found its way from Far East to Far West and has permeated through Western culture under many guises; especially in corporate and entertainment cultures.  
5. Introduction to the 3 Steps to Mindfulness
   1. A brief overview that will introduce the reader to the next few chapters. This section also introduces a few client stories that will be referred back to throughout the rest of the book as progressive examples.
6. The First Step: Awareness
   1. Meditation- This section will introduce and explain the concept and practice of meditation. It explains how and why meditation is the beginning of Awareness. Various meditation techniques will be discussed so that the reader may find a personally preferable method.
   2. Documentation- This section will discuss the necessity of documenting the "train-of-thought", whether through written, audio, or video means. It will also provide guidelines for documentation to help the reader streamline their own personal process.
7. Way Point #1: New Habits
   1. A description and breakdown of how new habits are formed. 
   2. Barriers and trip-falls that most people face in the first 3 weeks of a new habit.
   3. How to overcome new habit barriers and how to watch for self-sabotage.
   4. Maintaining a new habit until it becomes an old habit
8. Awareness Continued: The First 3 Weeks
   1. Week One: What to expect / The first exercise
   2. Week Two: What to Expect / Overcoming Barriers
   3. Week Three: What to Expect / Preparing for the next step
   4. Jamie's Story- A client's experiences of the first step.
9. Awareness Continued: Week 4 and Beyond
   1. Expanding the Exercise
10. The Second Step: Analysis
    1. Patterns, Triggers, and Responses
    2. Patterns
       1. What are Patterns?- A description and explanation of mental and emotional patterns that develop over time as a result of past experiences and conscious/ unconscious training
    3. Triggers
       1. What are Triggers? - A description and explanation of emotional triggers that are created as a result of past experiences and conscious/ unconscious training.
    4. Responses
       1. What are Responses? - A description and explanation of emotional  and behavioral responses that develop in the unconscious to cope with life situations
11. Way Point #2: Micro-Thoughts
    1. What are micro-thoughts?- A description and explanation of mini-thoughts that pass by the conscious mind without notice, but still have an effect.
    2. The cumulative effect of micro-thoughts.
12. Analysis Continued: Looking for Patterns, Triggers, and Responses
    1. Step-by-step method for finding mental patterns
       
       1. Reviewing the First week
       2. Reviewing the Second Week
       3. Reviewing the Third Week
       4. Reviewing the First Month
    2. Determining long term mental patterns from day-to-day thoughts
13. Analysis Continued: Healthy vs. Unhealthy
    1. Determining what constitutes a healthy thought / emotion from unhealthy
    2. Catching unhealthy micro-thoughts
14. Way Point #3: Judgement and Forgiveness
    1. The effects of improper self-judgement
    2. How to judge your thoughts
       1. What will you act / not act upon
    3. Forgiveness: The Longest Mile - Gulshan's Story
15. The Third Step: Awakening
    1. Perpetual Awareness- the ability to watch your thoughts 24/7
    2. Lucid Dreaming- Nocturnal Awareness
    3. Rejecting the Negative and Embracing the Positive
    4. Living without Judgement: Inside and Out- Shawna's Story
    5. Living without Fear
16. Final Thoughts: The Destination
    1. Watching for backsliding
    2. Constantly re-evaluating
    3. Enjoy it!

Audience

Entrepreneurs, Corporate Trainers / Executives, Self-helpers: Most people in these genres are always looking for some way to improve their mindset or business practices in a way that will give them an advantage. Highly motivated and usually pre-disposed to self-help anyway, they also want detailed instructions mixed with success stories. 

Promotion

Twitter and Facebook campaigns are obviously a must for any advertising. However, I am also giving discounts for the book as a "bonus/ freebie" for a 1-2 hour corporate training program that I am already promoting as well as a video series. Event planners (and their gatekeepers) will receive a free copy. Training attendees will receive a 10% discount.

I will also promote in networking circles as well as training collaborations with other corporate trainers (several of which are located overseas.)

Competition

Mindfulness in Plain English. Bhante Gunaratana. Wisdom Publications. 2011,2015. Focuses on finding Mindfulness primarily through daily meditation practice with a strong Buddhist flavor

Difference: While meditation is described and advocated, 5 Minute Mindfulness outlines the steps beyond meditation. Buddhism is mentioned in the "History of..." section, but not mentioned much afterwards. 

The Miracle of Mind: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation. Thich Naht Hanh. Beacon Press. 1976. Using anecdotes and exercises, Master Hanh teaches meditation skills to the beginning practitioner.

Difference: Much like the previous entry, 5 Minute Mindfulness takes a beginner beyond the first stages of Mindfulness; past meditation.

I Am Here Now: A Creative Mindfulness Guide and Journal. The Mindfulness Project. Penguin Random House, LLC. 2015. This book uses the practice of "living in the now" as a path to mindfulness. 

Difference: 5 Minute Mindfulness utilizes awareness, understanding, and acceptance of conscious and unconscious thoughts to direct a reader to a mindful life.

Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening. Joseph Goldstein. Sounds True Inc. 2013. A guide to mindfulness using adaptations of Buddhist traditions and methods.

Difference: While Buddhism is included in the "History of..." chapter and several other short references, 5 Minute Mindfulness teaches from a non-traditional method that, while similar to some traditions, is not derived from Buddhist methods.

Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Sounds True Inc. 2012. Primarily focuses on the practice of meditation as a means to self-awareness.

Difference: 5 Minute Mindfulness focuses on a direct awareness and understanding of mental patterns to find moment to moment acceptance and mindfulness.